Audi has the wealthiest buyers on average in terms of income. They make the finest interiors in the entire auto industry and have done so for quite some time. Their awards for interior supremacy only help to further soldiify and justify this claim

BMW has their sporty reputation which is second to none (except for maybe Porsche)

Lexus has their reliability which can be touched by no other luxury manufacturer

Mercedes-Benz has their luxury gt cruisers and heritage.

THERE IS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. People who want interiors and to have the wealthiest customer base out of any car company (on average) can get an Audi, those who want reliability get a Lexus. Those who want athletic performance buy a BMW and those who want a luxury gt cruiser with heritage get a Mercedes - Benz.

No luxury brand is inherintely better than any other. Each company has its own strengths as well as weaknesses.

I agree that we should stop these flame wars between fans of competing brands. I am a BMW man to the core, I know I will never choose anything else - but sometimes I am embaressed and annoyed by some of the BMW fans on autospies who make up as much stuff as the people who hate the brand!

However, I think that you cannot pigeon-hole people too easily, as everything is subjective and a matter of personal opinion. Although I do put a priority on driving experience - this is not the sole reason for my devotion to BMW... I personally have always loved the styling of their cars, and (with the excpetion of the tail-lights on the 3 sedan/saloon, and the 1 - and the face-lifted 7's front end) I still do. I like them more than Audi and Benz (which are not bad looking cars), and Lexus (which I dislike the styling of).

I am also more than happy with the interiors - maybe I would expect more if I owned a 7 series, but I can't fault the quality of the interior of my 320.

The one thing I am left wondering is who actually goes and buys a car based on how wealthy the brands customer base is? I would be interested to see the source of this statistic too.

Well think about it people. Audi does not cater to a 20-something or Teen-something crowd with personal incomes of close to none.

Audi doesn't appeal to people who know nothing about cars and only get a BMW for the blue and white propeller badge or a Mercedes for a 3-pointed star.

Audi has long been known as being the understated brand. It is to conceal wealth. Audi and BMW are to show that you have the wealth.

Based on that notion BMW and Mercedes customers should be higher in their incomes. There are very wealthy that like to hide their wealth as opposed to young 20 something professionals trying to show the world they have a decent salary.

Here is proof:

Buyers of the A6's big brother, the A8, have a higher education and income than American buyers of the Mercedes S Class and BMW 7-Series, according to Audi. That is understandable, as an Audi would only be a status symbol among a very bookish crowd.

There isn't enough snob appeal in Audi for the mink and Rolex crowd in Beverly Hills. Also not surprising is that Audi buyers, says the company's market research, tend to be more entrepreneurial than the buyers of their German rivals. That means that the chairman of Oracle probably drives a Mercedes. The CEO of the start-up Oracle wants to buy is more likely to drive an Audi.

Average age of a BMW driver in America is 44, compared with 51 for that of a Mercedes or a Lexus. In Europe, the gap is also seven years. Since a driver of a luxury car buys a new one every 3 1/2 years on average, BMW can squeeze two more car purchases from its customers than Mercedes and Lexus can.

Good for them. Audi buyers can afford to buy these luxury cars for a long time due to the fact that they have the highest average incomes out of any luxury manufacturere including BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.

Will, I'm going to be getting a BMW soon. If you base your decision on which is a better car company based on luxury of interior and best overall interiors then yes...Audi would come out on top against BMW, Mercedes, Lexus or any other luxury manufacturer (mainstream) that you can think of.

I enjoyed having the best interiors in the business - hands down. Now I'm looking forward to having the best driving dynamics with BMW.

Will find me the numerous Lexus awards for interiors from Ward's if they exist and find me my article.

Will- Audi Love? hmmm. Maybe the pro BMWer's need to post from their sources. I guess, do you want to be leader or a follower? The Audi guys here are far more active than the BMW guys. That can change if you simply post a few posts a day will stem the flow.

Hey Billy it's okay if you can't find the article, I completely understand that Audi is the best mainstream luxury manufacturer in terms of interior design and BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus are inferior.

Every carmaker in this class has a good interior, some are just better than others.

When it's A4 vs IS, I think the IS interior is kind of cheap-looking next to the A4, especially some of the buttons and plastics (I've sat in both of them in showrooms, and not just for 5 minutes...). A4 wins here IMO.

The A6 vs the GS, it is tied.

A8 vs LS? Tied.

Q7 vs RX? Tied.

The new Mercedes (and Acura) interiors are pretty good IMO, they're coming back.

Next, after those two, I'd place Infiniti.

BMW, Cadillac and Lincoln take the bottom, with BMW just ahead of both American brands in terms of interior quality from a visual POV.

It's nice to see even BMW530i accepting the fact that Audi is indeed king when it comes to interior design. Going neck and neck with Lexus most of the way but of course Audi has the trick up its sleeve with the A4 against the IS.

I would guess the drop off in BMW buyers at old age is probably something to do with people of that age not wanting a car they can chuck about with confidence, but a smooth, soft, safe, cosseting drive

matt635- I have to agree the demographics show a MUCH younger clientele for BMW initially. At about age 50 BMW holds even but Lexus and Cadillac keep increasing. This may be in part that the owners are also in retirement and have lees disposable income.

Cadillac shows 50% are 60 or older and 85.5% are whiteLexus shows 37.5% are 60 or older and 84.50% are whiteMercedes shows 31.5% are 60 or older and 74.41% are whiteBMW shows 18.1% are 60 or older and 81.59% are white

I wish I had Audi scores but the report did not list overall demographics for Audi.

This dialogue is nuts. So BMW drivers on average are younger - big deal. I bought my first new BMW at the age of 24, and never bought another. Since then I've had 3 Lexus vehicles (LS, SC and LX) and 3 Mercedes (SL, S and SL). My first Lexus was in my 30s and my first Mercedes was in my 40s. So what - who cares what the average age is.

I still have all my hair, if I was going bald I'd probably have a Porsche 911 convertible by now. Would that mean that Porsche is for old, fat people?

Get real folks. Generally the more important issue is which brand has the highest customer loyalty. I'm not sure of the source - I think Consumer Reports - but I do recall that Lexus owners are now more likely to buy another Lexus than Mercedes are to buy another Mercedes.

My Suggestion, Just buy all three. That's what my family did, My dad has an S4 and a 5-series, my mom has an X3, and I have a c-class, when my brother drives we'll get him an IS. The result, perfect harmony. :)

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